An aircraft can include an engine, such as a gas turbine engine, for propulsion of the aircraft. A gas turbine engine can include a fan and a core arranged in flow communication with one another. The core of the gas turbine engine generally includes an air flow path having, in serial air flow order, a compressor section, a combustion section, a turbine section, and an exhaust section. The compressor section can include one or more compressors used to compress air. The compressed air can be provided to the combustion section where it is mixed with fuel and burned to provide combustion gases. The combustion gases can be used to support operation of the compressor section and the turbine section of the gas turbine engine.
During flight, an aircraft may encounter liquid water in the form of rain in the flight path of the aircraft. This typically occurs at altitudes when the aircraft is in takeoff, climb, or descent. Large amounts of liquid water ingested by the aircraft engine can be problematic as energy is expended to convert the water to vapor during the combustion process. This can lead to increased specific fuel consumption of the engine during climb and descent when rain is in the flight path of the aircraft.
For instance, the aircraft engine can include components associated with airflow geometry located in the airflow path of the core to control various aspects of the combustion process. For instance, stator vanes can be used to modify airflow to the compression and combustion sections of the gas turbine engine. Variable stator vanes can be controlled, for instance, based on temperature sensors located at different locations within the engine. Controlling the variable stator vanes based on temperature sensors may not adequately compensate for the presence of atmospheric liquid water ingested by the aircraft engine. For instance, the variable stator vanes can be controlled based on the temperature sensors to be more closed than they should be during the presence of atmospheric rain conditions, leading to increased fuel consumption.